I'm chatting with Larry Upton from Bambu Werx. Larry's not only talking about his excellent sock brand, he's also sharing fabulous insight on all-things triathlon. You don't want to miss this episode!
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Connect with Larry
Website: https://bambuwerx.com/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/bambuwerx
Links Mentioned During This Episode
Mark Allen Coaching (TriDOT)
- triathlon coaching for beginners-elites
- starting at $149 per month
Global Triathlon Network
- best free triathlon training content
- IMO, best swim instruction videos
RaceDay Triathlon Planner
- mobile app available for both iPhone and Android
- particularly helpful for nutrition planning
Pathetic Triathletes Group
- light-hearted content (memes, jokes, etc.) for beginner triathletes
- 87,000 plus and growing
Welcome to the two talk try podcast. I'm your host Bella and I'm Sierra and we're so excited that you're here. We are age group triathletes that are looking forward to bringing you tools resources and triathlon stories each week. Most often mom will be hosting the interviews since I'm busy with work in nursing school. But every once in a while Bella will host an interview as well. Either way we are excited you are here. Head on over to our website to genstry.com for all of our free triathlon resources. And now, let's start today's episode. Well hello everyone and welcome to the two talk try podcast. I'm your host today Sierra. I get to enjoy this great conversation and I have Larry here from bambooworks which you guys know we love the socks. But I asked Larry to jump on this conversation with me just to talk about not only his brand and you know I'm curious like how it all got started I think we want to know. But just to talk about the sport in general and he knows a lot of athletes he knows a lot of leaders in the sport and so I just thought it would be a really interesting conversation. So Larry thanks for joining. Thank you Sierra I appreciate your having me. Yeah okay so let's talk about the socks first. Who decides to be a sock brand designer. Like tell me the story. That's that's an interesting one and I'll try to give you you know make a long story short. So we launched Bamboo Works back and well our intention was to have launched Bamboo Works March 1st of 2020. Okay oh boy that day yeah but the world shut down. Yeah I sold a software company I've been a 34 year tech guy started in 1990 and was in tech all my life got into triathlon about 15 years ago through an association with a stellar person human being athlete and coach got named Mark Allen. I met Mark in 2014 as you guys may recall Wanda Dalian a big Chinese conglomerate bought Ironman in 2017. So Mark and I because of that association with Ironman and Ironman University we started traveling to China and in China as you may have heard or read everything is all business is based upon the strength of your relationships. Okay. Contracts do not matter. Everything you ever heard or read about the Chinese screwing you over is true. Yeah they will broker or break a contract it will steal your idea. However in their culture it's actually considered honorable. It's a I'm a better business person than you. Shame on you for not knowing there was a loophole in the contractor. Shame on you for not patent or your trademark. It's it's actually honorable. Oh what is important in China is your relationships. The Chinese have a term in Mandarin called Guangxi. Guangxi spelled in English G-U-A-N-X-I roughly translates to your network of trust. Okay. What it comes down to is literally who do you know. So if I know your boss or I know your boss is boss or even better if I know the government official who's over your business sector my Guangxi is stronger than yours and you will not screw me over in business because I could tell your boss the boss's boss or the government official and get you in trouble. So started traveling to China in 2016. First three or four years my wife was asking me what the hell are you doing going to China for two weeks of the time we're not making any money and I had to keep telling her honey we're building our relationships our network. She's a hardcore sales person 16 years in advertising. She can smell money. She's like this is not the way I do business and I'm like I'm a business dev guy. I'm not a sales hound. Trust me. Well sure enough over time it panned out we started making relationships in Guangdong which is the southern province of China. It's where most endurance apparel is made that cap you've got on kit headband socks everything's made in Guangdong and I formed a good network and started looking into apparel. Okay my wife and I spent the bulk of our lives in Austin Texas she moved her in 1981 I moved there in 91 at the time it was a sleepy little music town of about 300,000 people you may hold them heard the mantra of keep Austin weird it was weird in music 6,000 music venues it was fantastic. It was like Nashville of the 1980s sure well over the course of the 90s once Silicon Valley found out about Texas and the fact that there's no personal income tax 98 99 2000 all of these companies started relocating from the Bay Area to Austin. It went from 300,000 to 2.2 million people. Oh my goodness and it is a bustling little they call it Silicon Hills now long story short it's not what Austin used to be. So when I got into triathlon 2014 2017 we sold a house in the suburbs moved to Boulder which is kind of the mecca for all things triathlete you can throw a stick and hit a pro triathlete in Boulder. I opened up a consulting business where I was helping take US and European based manufacturers to China because everybody thought China was gonna be the next gold rush for triathlon three hundred and eighty three million people in their middle class alone. Everybody saw dollar signs including Ironman so market started traveling to China. At the time in base one of my clients was a nutrition firm called base performance and you may be familiar with base they were the or salt provider for years Ironman they do electrolytes they do bars great organization I love Matt and Laura Lee I worked for them in 2019 20 and 21 base over the course of their 13 14 year history grew their team from 0 to 1400 team members and about 2015 a friend of Matt's approached him and said dude you're you got 400 people why are you still buying from somebody else and paying wholesale price and direct to manufacturers and buy your kit so 2019 we made custom kit for over 140 teams oh my it was incredible it was a half the business well one of the things that you know my kids will tell you is that dad is a recycle Nazi you see the background I have here bamboo I literally am that guy that when I travel I leave space in my suitcase for all of my aluminum cans my single-use plastic even the utensils I use I bring all of that home and I recycle it long story short I realized through that experience at base and building kit for 140 teams CR that literally millions of pieces of spandex were going in the landfills at the end of every season because your sponsors change you know you swap a logo out nobody wants your old nasty kit yeah way and then they print up new ones I hated that idea of my five kids growing up in a world that was going to be full of single-use plastic in latex kit so our original goal in researching manufacturers in China was to find a more eco-friendly manner by which to make kit well in looking at natural materials we quickly found out that cotton is not nearly as eco-friendly as they purport to be it will have enormous amount of water to grow cotton and I don't care what organic label you put on your cotton 90% of the cotton growers use pesticide it's not ecologically friendly bamboo on the other hand if you've ever had bamboo in your yard you know it's a weed we have it yeah or like why did they put that in we cannot get rid of it it is it is one of the most prolific I don't know if you saw my post a week or so ago some species of Granboo bamboo can grow nearly four feet in a day oh very little water it has a natural insecticide in the bark called coon k-u-h-n which prevents bugs from eating the bamboo shoots if you process and it's a very meticulous process if you manufacture your viscous fiber for bamboo apparel properly you can maintain the antimicrobial properties so it will never stink what causes the stink in your old t-shirts your caps your socks is basically bacteria it sounds gross but bacteria feed off of the sebum which is the oily secretion that our pores secrete when we're sweating yeah they eat off of that and again it sounds gross but when they poop that's the smell and it's very akin to like if you're making homemade bread or brewing like a yeast yeah yeah and just like you can get powdered yeast in the grocery store and you add flour and water and warmth and you put it in a dark place and it forms your your I forget what they call it in bread but it's basically something you can pass down for years yeah it's the same in your fabric so it's stinky fabric you can wash it in scalding hot water you can use bleach ammonia vinegar all you're really doing is putting that bacteria in the stasis it goes dormant oh you put that shirt on and start sweating and getting hot again it comes back to life starts eating your sweat sebum and poops and it stinks again it might as well throw that shirt away that doesn't happen with bamboo it it kills the bacteria so it's ideal for things like shirts headbands socks even the liners on our cap so that you know if you've got hair gel or other product in your hair or sunscreen and you're sweating it's not gonna irritate your skin it's not gonna make it stink so long story short we we started looking into bamboo quickly found out though that as a natural fiber you cannot sublimate onto it so all fancy colors and designs that you get on your kit they start out as white fabric at the manufacturer the manufacturer has these monstrous printing presses 18 feet wide they print out the designs they laser cut them laser cut the fabric put them together run them through a heat press at over 700 degrees the polyester nylon spandex expands absorbs the ink and then when it comes out on the other side it's permafest it was wondering about this because Bella's getting lifetime fitness is sponsoring her and she's getting personalized kit any they're like any color any design I was like how do they do that now I know it's printed on a massive machine laser heat pressed and then it's permafest well you can't do that to baboo it would burn it up at 700 degrees so all of our products are either embroidered on the cap which kind of lends for a nice look and feel anyway or they're stitched or woven so like our socks if you see color and design in our socks that's actually different colored bamboo yarn it is okay rather on a big machine to produce that design so yes they're not as fancy or as colorful or as intricate but they will last a lot longer because we use recycled nylon and bamboo so it's eco-friendly will never stink and because it's also ultra soft to your point earlier you'll never blister yeah we have a variety of pro-tra athletes and ultra distance runners who use our socks because traditional nylon polyester causes them to blister never blister we have a no blister no stink 100% for life guarantee so long story short we made these manufacturing relationships we were all excited to launch on March 1st sold the software company in February we all know what happened at the end of February in 2020 the gate shut nobody could rain nobody could race nobody could go or get anything out of China we had to pivot so we pivoted to face mask bamboo being antimicrobial and hypoallergenic is ideal for a face mask we did great in 2021 and then once the gates opened back up we started doing our normal products yeah you asked specifically about the socks the socks you see today were the result of about a seven-month prototyping process we bought socks from every competitor out there bomb us defeat outweigh tested them said what do we like what do we not like you know how do they hold up under repeated use do they fade can you dry them you know well they crawl down into my feet as I'm running yes the worst if they did that yeah we develop our socks originally came out with a crew ours are slightly shorter they're not cycling length which is often eight or nine inches which goes way up your calf we split the difference we're at six inches for our bigger socks five inches for our lower ones so people use them for running and they also use them for cycling and then a couple of months later we brought up ankle socks that was was the result of Daniel Lewis one of our sponsor pros Danny said it takes me too long to put on crew socks in transition one it caught another 30 seconds can you bring out an ankle sock we did people then started giving us feedback saying hey we love your ankle socks for transition but when we're training we don't want the tan lines yeah no-show socks Danny tried them she said they're great but they blister my heel so we brought out our no-show pros which have the extra length on the tabs on the back in the front so the tongue of your shoe with a hill of your shoe will not cause blistering and that's where we're at today we've got a your a new set of colors and designs coming out here in about three weeks we've learned the hard way as a young retailer that you need to have new inventory you need to refresh those designs and those colors it's actually better to run out of stock than to have too much of something so you're gonna a little bit of a pivot from us from a business standpoint and that same paradigm is held true for caps it's held true for beanies it's held true for our headbands that's kind of the way we're operating today yeah it's so good well yeah it's a long story there so it's all good I learned about your socks because of a post Danielle that was made after she did Ironman Texas last year and she said you know she wore them all day and they didn't stink I was like that's really interesting I'm gonna give that a try so yeah so I bought them and love them and I just put another order in because we've always got them in the laundry you know and I'm like I don't want to keep digging so I want more in the drawer and so yeah we have it but it's funny because I like the ankle sock Bella really likes the no-show style of the socks like the low low profile so it's all good so what do you think's been the biggest surprise for you good or bad as you made your way into the industry of selling something because it's a flooded industry right that's exactly where I was gonna go so we have found the hard way that as a generalist provider of endurance apparel we're competing with some domain specific players that are very deep pockets very entrenched positions in the market so in socks it's defeat it's bomb us it's even the cycling oh folks like Rafa it's up to compete against somebody who's been in the field for eight ten twelve years and all they do is socks they're gonna always outshine us as far as designs and colors same thing on caps you know we compete against melon we compete against BOCO we compete against head sweats we have respect for all of our competition but they kick our tails when it comes to very specific offerings so as generalist where we have had to differentiate is in one the quality of our product we will put our socks our caps our beanies our headbands up against anybody as far as quality oh yes we are a bit more expensive 15 20 percent but we're still competitive yeah what we find we do well is in folks that have already tried the competition yet they've got a problem maybe the socks still blister me or the cap still cause my head to break out or the knees itch my head the headbands are too thick to wear under my cycling helmet we found these little micro niches where we do well and it's there that we're focusing on the other lesson that we're learning is that customer service matters Amazon as you well know changed the playing field you can order something off of Amazon Prime it's there in a day or two you don't like it you return it they credit your credit card back they really increase the bar for how we can compete well we can't compete against Amazon so what we've done is we've said we're going to give absolutely the best customer service in the world so you get a package from us it's gonna have a handwritten note from one of our staff members thanking you if you've ordered more than once it's gonna say thank you for your repeat business here's a free headband here's a free pair of socks here's a pack of gels you have a problem we don't ask questions we'll replace our exchange or refund within 24 hours we worked seven days a week 14 15 hours a day to ensure that because you've spent that extra 15% we're gonna take care of you so customer service is a big differentiator for us yeah and I think that's such a good reminder I know with all the businesses I work with it gets discouraging right because I think how can we compete but you can you're solving a problem not just selling a product and we know how to solve that problem well and speak to that people do respond and I think triathletes like we're loyal I mean that's how we are so we find a nutrition that works it's like that's what you use forever so I mean the same thing here I think people just need to know about the brand because once they try them I know they're gonna you know stay hooked on them so I completely agree we've you know we see my best friend very wise oh gentlemen I've known him for 39 years he says the market is boss you can think all day long you've got the best product the best price the best promotion but if the dogs aren't eating the dog food hang it up he says you better be listening closely to your market because they will tell you if the dogs are eating the dog food and they're pushing the yellow bits aside and only eating the red and the orange bits will crank up the recipe to have more revenue yeah yep yeah so good okay let's switch gears a little bit and just talk about triathlon because you as you mentioned to me I'm quoting you back to you you've been around the block so lots of great hair yeah all happen so just a lot of things have changed I think it's just so interesting from when you know we were all kids are younger and watching Kona on TV to like now it's just a sport that's available to people I mean so much has changed and now I think a lot of good things are happening even this year tell me what you think about the landscape of triathlon um specifically endurance triathlon sure so you know when my wife and I first start as this typical we started that with sprints then we moved to Olympics then we got into a long course so you know 70.3s and knock on wood gonna do my first fool this fall I didn't know that tell me where oh my goodness tell me where yeah I'm in Cosamel because I'm an absolute wussy Sierra when it comes to cold water my wife is Canadian she uses a more pejorative term to describe me yeah I hate cold water and because I'm not a strong swimmer I'm an adult onset swimmer I didn't start tomorrow for these oh I have to be distracted to do yeah oh you will be this is gonna be wonderful and it is flat and yep I've done Cosamel for it's hot really hot I won't name the pro but when I saw literally one of the best female pros in triathlon when it comes to heat walking the eight stations I feel like okay yeah not just you Larry it's everybody it's hot so I've done Cosamel I've done Denang in Vietnam equally hot equally humid what I have learned or as I mentioned to you in the precursor conversation through a very good friend and in my opinion one of the epitomies of good human beings in the sport is a guy named Mark Gallon everybody knows Mark famous iron war with Dave Scott what I most respect about Mark is although he has competed at the highest pinnacle of the sport you know ESPN caught him the greatest endurance athlete of all time outdoor magazine caught him the fittest man in history his belief and his perspective on triathlon is it is a rising tide that can lift all boats he's a big believer in the fact that because it's a multi-disciplined sport swimming biking and running over time it's going to prove less arduous on your body you're not going to be pounding those knees those hips those ankles you're working different muscle sets you're taxing your cardiovascular system it's something you can do own into life and so his belief is that while the elites may have these very specific training plans and they're competing against their PRs in the world we as AGs have you know age groupers can simply compete against ourselves yeah we understand the why behind why we're in triathlon maybe it's to lose weight maybe it's to feel better about yourself maybe it's to oh oh you know be a better version of yourself Mark is a big believer in that he's also a big believer and I adhere to the same philosophy not just on focusing on the horizontal the training sets the nutrition the recovery the sleep but on getting your vertical alignment in place understanding the spiritual the mental the emotional aspects of triathlon so that it's not just your body your training but your spirit and your soul yeah and I so respect that because if you can do that then you become a better I think overall person through triathlon and so that's one of the things that I've learned is that while Ironman specifically and triathlon on the whole back in the 90s and nearly 2000s was considered an elite sport it's much more broad now it appeals to moms it appeals to teenagers I mean look at your daughter Bella you know we're still it appeals to families you can do this together you talked about you know Clydesdale and your husband yeah it's been all three go and compete it's a great sport for the family and for the broader market so while it may have been super cool to have the MDOT back in the 90s because everybody was like oh you're a triathlete now it's more personalized in my opinion it's all about what are what's my why what's the what how am I accomplishing it and how am I gonna do it how am I gonna have fun in sport how am I gonna be a better version of myself through triathlon yeah I know it's so interesting it's why I love our our Instagram family I just it's so funny it Larry and I think I've told you this before like we started because I thought oh this would be interesting some people encouraged us you guys are both training for Kona you and Bella you should put it on Instagram Bella was very resistant she's like mom nobody cares what we're like why why why I was like we'll just put it on and then friends and family and then it started growing and we started getting all these questions or messages I just got a message the other day I screenshot it and sent it to Bella who's since changed her mind about the platform but this lady said you guys inspire me one she said what I wouldn't give for one more day to have a cycling class or training with my mom my mom was my best partner workout partner she unexpectedly passed away and I was like that is why I love this and I'm finding through the sport of triathlon just that surprise I never knew how amazing the humans would be in the group and it's really fun to connect so yeah and just to understand their why's and hear hear what they have going on I agree could not agree more yeah so do you have any words of encouragement for those who are thinking about starting or maybe they're doing their first endurance race it can be a little intimidating a little scary any thoughts sure a couple of things you know as is often the case when we move into something that is so a peeringly complex is triathlon oh my god I've got to learn to swim or I've got a bit faster on the bike or I've got to be able to run further faster it's overwhelming so first thing I would say is learn to enjoy the experience quit focusing so much on the destination the event the goal enjoy the experience be present soak it up hey you've been blessed with a healthy body healthy mind you can get out you can enjoy the atmosphere and the people around you soak up the experience and be present so I've learned that the other thing is that you know there are a lot of available resources online that can cater to the very first-time beginner or the experienced athlete who's simply looking to get better in a particular discipline three of the ones that I found to be very helpful the global triathlon network has a just an enormous amount and I can send you the link later that you can post along with a podcast an enormous amount of free content specifically about swimming which is my weakest discipline yes now I'm slow I slumps when minute 55 and hundreds I can go forever but I'm just slow as molasses oh another great resource is an application that a friend of mine has developed got named Bill Hulihan called race day race is fantastic when it comes to planning your nutrition for your races which is you the fourth discipline yeah that will give you the ability to say this is the distance race it's a sprint it's an Olympic it's a 70.3 it's a full here's my age my height my weight here's my level of experience and then it maps out your nutrition which is great if you don't have a from a coaching perspective and I hope I don't step on any of my friends toes my favorite coaching network and training platform right now is TRIDOT mark Allen is affiliated with TRIDOT here in the last year or so they've just got great programs that will cater to you specifically through artificial intelligence they'll help you figure out not just what you should be doing to work out but how you should be doing it it gives you active feedback so that you can say after your work but work out I felt greater no I felt like crap or I met my goals or I didn't meet my goals and then it adjusts the program for you it's that's great so global triathlon network for free content race day which is on the App Store and Google Play for nutrition planning and then TRIDOT if you want to actually engage a coach or a coaching network and grow yeah all those are so good so I'm gonna get the links from you we'll put them in the show notes Larry any last words on why we have to wear your socks you know you've heard a beautiful baby syndrome it's where an entrepreneur thinks they've got the right sense and I was like oh the nose on that it's so cute yeah you know in our opinion it's not just mine it's what we share collectively as a group here at Bad Boot Works we've been given an opportunity to enjoy this big world and I'll get teary thinking about it boom you know nature get out have fun with our friends compete grab dinner grab a margarita thereafter just enjoy ourselves I guess the you know the thing I would encourage most folks to do is to just be present quit worrying about your PR quit worrying about your body fat quit worrying about you know your your VO2 max or your FTP focus on soaking up the benefits the wind behind your experience and just enjoy yourself have fun giving it share that experience with other people where possible lift them up give them feedback from what you yourself have experienced and just have fun and triathlon yeah oh that's so good and it makes me think you know every once in a while you'll come across a triathlete that's just grumpy let's just say it you know they're not very nice and I think it's because they forgot the reason right because for them the vast majority when we moved to Tennessee we didn't know anybody here and so our community started around our church group we plugged into and we just started going to the pool and it's like hey I see your water bottle do you have a race coming up you know and that family so the vast majority of triathletes are just so friendly and so for any of you out there that tend to be a little grumpy this is just a reminder like remember why you're actually doing it and that you had to start at some point and that you had questions at some point and hopefully there was someone that was kind to you that brings up a one more resource and this is a plug because there's no commercial attachment or gain there's a really good group on Facebook called the pathetic triathletes group okay it is so fine oh they look at the lighter side of triathlon they make fun of themselves we're allowed they make fun of each other but all with a spirit of respect and civility it's just a great group I think there's 87 88 thousand triathletes in there so they post memes they share stories it's a wonderful network that you know when I've got 30 minutes to kill I'm sitting in a doctor's waiting room or somewhere give you a good laugh triathletes and just check it out yeah I love it well thanks so much I'm gonna grab all those links from you we'll put them in the show notes thanks for joining us today if anyone wants to try out the socks we have a discount code for you so can you share your website with us sure it's bamboo works be a MB you W E R X .com perfect and then just use the code two gens and you can try out some socks for 20% off at your first purchase so I would just encourage everybody to try them you know our socks were out so you know you're gonna have to buy a new pair anyway so why not try this and then tell us what you think I love for you guys to post a picture take two gens take bamboo works we'd love to share those share your stories of how you did not have smelly feet and you had no blisters so share all the stories thanks so much Larry it was fun to share it's been a pleasure give a little amount of regards I will all right everybody thank you so much for tuning in if this episode was helpful please share it let us know what you thought and let us know who else we should interview we'd love to have continuing conversations here thanks so much we'll see you next week bye for now we're tuning in to today's episode make sure to follow us on Instagram at two gens try and visit our website for free triathlon resources at two gens try com see you all next week
